Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change

In this article, we argue that othering is central to the government of climate change. Critically engaging with Foucault’s ideas on biopolitics and racism, we elaborate a conceptual perspective for analysing how such a “technology of government” operates. We review diverse literatures from geograph...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Andreucci, Diego, Zografos, Christos
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/56862
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/56862
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102512
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Political ecology
Othering
Climate change
Climate migrants
Biopolitics
Racism
Just transitions
Sacrifice zones
Development
Green extractivism
Green New Deal
Postcolonial theory
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spelling Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate changeAndreucci, DiegoZografos, ChristosPolitical ecologyOtheringClimate changeClimate migrantsBiopoliticsRacismJust transitionsSacrifice zonesDevelopmentGreen extractivismGreen New DealPostcolonial theoryIn this article, we argue that othering is central to the government of climate change. Critically engaging with Foucault’s ideas on biopolitics and racism, we elaborate a conceptual perspective for analysing how such a “technology of government” operates. We review diverse literatures from geography, political ecology, critical adaptation studies and the environmental humanities dealing with discursive constructions of the other in three exemplary areas of intervention—mitigation (particularly “green” mineral extraction for renewable energy production); constructions of “vulnerability” in adaptation policies; and the governing of “climate migrants”. We contend that these interventions largely work through the extension of capitalist relations, underpinned by racist and colonial ways of seeing populations and territories as “in need of improvement”. And that, by legitimising and depoliticizing such interventions, and by suspending responsibility for their unwanted or even deadly impacts, othering helps to preserve existing relations of racial, patriarchal and class domination in the face of climate-induced social upheavals. Othering, we conclude, is not only a feature of fossil fuelled development, but a way of functioning of capitalist governmentality more broadly—which has important implications for thinking about emancipatory and climate-just transformations.Elsevier202320232022info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/56862http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102512reponame:Repositorio Digital de la UPFinstname:Universitat Pompeu FabraInglésPolitical Geography. 2022;92:102512.© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/568622026-06-12T07:21:37Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change
title Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change
spellingShingle Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change
Andreucci, Diego
Political ecology
Othering
Climate change
Climate migrants
Biopolitics
Racism
Just transitions
Sacrifice zones
Development
Green extractivism
Green New Deal
Postcolonial theory
title_short Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change
title_full Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change
title_fullStr Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change
title_full_unstemmed Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change
title_sort Between improvement and sacrifice: othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Andreucci, Diego
Zografos, Christos
author Andreucci, Diego
author_facet Andreucci, Diego
Zografos, Christos
author_role author
author2 Zografos, Christos
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Political ecology
Othering
Climate change
Climate migrants
Biopolitics
Racism
Just transitions
Sacrifice zones
Development
Green extractivism
Green New Deal
Postcolonial theory
topic Political ecology
Othering
Climate change
Climate migrants
Biopolitics
Racism
Just transitions
Sacrifice zones
Development
Green extractivism
Green New Deal
Postcolonial theory
description In this article, we argue that othering is central to the government of climate change. Critically engaging with Foucault’s ideas on biopolitics and racism, we elaborate a conceptual perspective for analysing how such a “technology of government” operates. We review diverse literatures from geography, political ecology, critical adaptation studies and the environmental humanities dealing with discursive constructions of the other in three exemplary areas of intervention—mitigation (particularly “green” mineral extraction for renewable energy production); constructions of “vulnerability” in adaptation policies; and the governing of “climate migrants”. We contend that these interventions largely work through the extension of capitalist relations, underpinned by racist and colonial ways of seeing populations and territories as “in need of improvement”. And that, by legitimising and depoliticizing such interventions, and by suspending responsibility for their unwanted or even deadly impacts, othering helps to preserve existing relations of racial, patriarchal and class domination in the face of climate-induced social upheavals. Othering, we conclude, is not only a feature of fossil fuelled development, but a way of functioning of capitalist governmentality more broadly—which has important implications for thinking about emancipatory and climate-just transformations.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022
2023
2023
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10230/56862
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102512
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/56862
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102512
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Political Geography. 2022;92:102512.
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
instname:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
instname_str Universitat Pompeu Fabra
reponame_str Repositorio Digital de la UPF
collection Repositorio Digital de la UPF
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,81155

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